July 24, 2013

Let’s get along

Dear Editor:

I find the controversy over ATVs on the highway baffling. It appears polarization drives this issue. Please note that this is an honored Methow reaction to issues.

Bicyclists annoy car drivers when they refuse to move over. Cars annoy bicyclists who view the highway as their right as well as cars. Fishermen annoy boaters and rafters. Boaters and rafters annoy fisherman. Large trucks with fumes and loud diesel engines annoy sheep. Bleating sheep annoy humans who suffer from insomnia. Farmers on slow tractors or those herding cattle annoy the delivery man.

Skiers clog Loup Loup in winter. The Rhythm and Blues Festival brings in much needed revenue, but some hate it. Motorcycles are all lumped together as undesirable for loud noise, however, only some motorcycles are loud. Motor homes lumber over the pass. Joggers annoy those of us who can’t do it. Horses poop on highways and may be skittish. I’ll not even go into the pro- and anti-gun fracas nor will I tell you that I have a concealed carry permit.

Diversity abounds in every facet of life in the Methow – even our refusal to follow phonetic “blends” with our Met-how pronunciation. (Sets us apart from tourists!) Wealth allows mega homes for some, while others struggle to feed and clothe families. Some are still racists.

Because I don’t agree with your politics or lifestyle, I shouldn’t nor wouldn’t deny you the rights set forth by laws and acts of mutual get-along-ness. Spend more time celebrating our precious rights to live in a country that allows differences. Every issue of the Methow Valley News headlines some squabble. I, for one, am growing weary of keeping up with all the fights. Taxes me too much. I just want to ride my toy John Deere tractor on county roads, so leave me alone. Don’t make me come lookin’ for you when you write objecting to pedal tractors on county roads or the use of diphthongs.

Susie Heller, Winthrop

The coming darkness

Dear Editor:

The Gaia-Luddite Coalition has retroactively announced another planned outage that took place on July 15. After a successful launch of their campaign fund drive, “Return to the Darkness,” they have announced that everyone affected by the outage will be compensated for loss of electric power. Those who work as employees are to submit “missed time” cards. Business owners may submit bills for compensation of average daily profits; seasonal businesses may submit for up to 1.5 percent of yearly profits per day of outage.

They explained how this outage was vital. Having a single power line that has been taken out by at least two fires and several snow events is an effort toward sustainability.

“Having these outages really unites us as a community,” stated Imonna Bandwagon at a post-outage rally.

“The next thing we have to pursue is restoring the roadless areas by paring down the roads entering the Methow from over five to just one!” gushed Laike Anarchy, head of the One Line-One Road subcommittee at Gaia-Luddite.

Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldbark has announced he is planning to support the One Line-One Road effort: “We believe the use and productivity of public lands will be enhanced by reducing or eliminating all access. With my training in biology, I believe that the coalition has an undeniable point regarding the greater negative impact of roads in comparison to power lines and the necessity for removing roads and restoring nature.”

The coalition has encouraged people to continue to donate money toward “Return to the Darkness.” “We never know when we may have the big one where multiple power line structures go out and we will have a longer outage and we’ll need to compensate our community members for greater losses,” stressed Phonée Monet, campaign director. “We are the point agency for this form of man-caused disaster, so keep up the good work!”